A Single Drop of Blood
by Xekstrin
Summary: Something terrible is happening. Neo helps Yang sweat the fever out. [Yang/Neo] [AU Where Summer Rose was something neither faunus nor human.]


The floor trembled under her feet. Distantly, she could hear the near-silent hum of the aircraft's sleek, modern engines. It lingered in the edges of her hearing range; maybe Blake would have been bothered by it, if Blake were here.

She sat with her back against the wall, legs sprawled out on the floor and Ruby tucked between her knees. Yang had carried her princess-style for the last leg of the journey, always making sure to keep a hand pressed over her bandages even as her own wounds threatened to reopen under duress.

Neo stood within lunging distance, arms crossed and head bowed; her body formed a single, slight curve. In the amphibian aircraft there was only so much room for chairs, and Cinder had the pilot's seat.

"You should try to sleep."

If Yang hadn't been staring intensely at her, she might have believed it was Cinder speaking, for just a moment. But Neo's lips were the ones that moved, and two silver eyes blinked languidly at her. "We won't arrive at the bunker for a few more hours. You should sleep."

Aghast at first, some of the tension in Yang's body drained away from sheer confusion. "You finally speak and that's the first thing you have to say?" she demanded.

Neo's petite shoulders lifted once in a loose shrug. Her head tilted slightly to the side, her eyes closing again, her arms still crossed.

Ruby's head turned in her sleep, resting her forehead in the crook of Yang's neck. With an arm slung protectively around her waist and the other cradling her head, Yang resisted the urge to curl inward, wrap herself around Ruby as tight as she could. Instead she lowered her chin, pressing a kiss against Ruby's forehead as she tried to relax and do as Neo suggested.

The skid and bump of the amphibian hitting water jolted both of them awake. Ruby jumped to her feet, petals streaming around her ankles as she took in her surroundings.

"Where are we?" Ruby asked.

"An island off the coast of Mistral," Cinder said. "Emerald and Mercury should be here soon with your teammates, assuming everyone played their role correctly."

The stiff set of Ruby's spine seemed alien on her, wrong. As wrong as the way her face drawn tight by exhaustion, fine-boned from pain and deprivation. "Okay," she said, and her shoulders turned slightly inward as she relaxed. "...Okay," she said again, leaning heavily against Yang. "Thank you."

The older woman turned in her chair, golden eyes blazing bright as an open forge. Midnight black waters surrounded them as far as they could see— and heavy mist blocked out everything beyond. "I should be thanking you," she said, returning to her steering. In a few scant minutes they were gliding into pure darkness, the roof of a cave overhead blotting out the moonlight until suddenly it expanded.

From the front window Yang could see they were in some kind of underground bay, a cavern filled with bright light and Dust tech. The lights clicked on one by one, displaying the aging silver of the Dust reactor at the back of the cavern.

Ruby's grip tightened on her, drawing her attention back down. She expected Ruby to try and say something or maybe communicate, in the way that they shared, the way they could sometimes talk without words. But her sister was breathing raggedly, eyes focused on the floor and a hand on her rib.

"Ruby?"

"Hurts," Ruby responded shortly, clicking her jaw shut to breathe through flared nostrils. "A lot."

Heels clicked towards them. Neo strode closer in just a few steps, peeling her glove off her left hand by the teeth.

She reached out that hand to touch Ruby and the whole world turned red.

Grasping Neo by the wrist, Yang clenched as tight as she could. Even without being augmented by her semblance that grip could crush bone, and sparks flew up from Neo's aura-protected skin as they locked eyes, fury kindling bright between the lilac, the umber, the silver and the seashell pink.

"Yang."

Cinder's authoritative tone cut through it in an instant; the two of them froze.

Clucking her tongue, Cinder made sure the amphibian was bobbing safely in place before getting up. "Who do you think dressed your wounds? Let Neo do her work in peace." Ignoring them again, she took out her scroll and began to tap out a complex series of notes. It rang with an incoming message, and Cinder responded in turn.

A thin-lipped, lopsided smile accompanied a flicker of semblance. Neo's eyes flipped again, the left silver and the right muddy brown. She had an emotive face, clearly derisive as she lifted up her hand for Yang to see before slowly placing it down atop Ruby's head.

Pat, pat, pat.

When Yang didn't respond except to glare down at her, Neo took it as permission. She began undoing Ruby's corset, the threads slipping loose under quick fingers. An impatient tug at her shirt made it clear she wanted that off, too. Since Ruby couldn't lift her arms, Yang did it for her. A blush traveled up Ruby's neck but Neo kept her touches clinical and brief— maybe even brusque, to avoid any unfortunate reactions from Yang, who watched over the examination with a keen, protective eye.

Lifting a hand up to Yang's face, Neo's fingers rolled like a wave, pinkie to index to draw her attention. With the same hand she pointed out the bruising on Ruby's ribs, and then snapped her fingers once.

The dry noise made both sisters wince.

"Broken," Cinder translated.

"Yeah, I figured," Ruby muttered.

Torn between lingering anger and budding concern, Yang pushed aside Ruby's bangs again to check the scrape on her forehead. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Dunno. Didn't think to." She shifted uncomfortably. "My aura will heal it on its own though, right?"

Both of Neo's eyebrows rose up even as her eyes remained flat and expressionless, her lips a thin, straight line.

"Right," Ruby said, "Of course not."

Yang licked her lips. "So uh, do we uh, is there a med bay or—"

"I can heal," Neo said, and jammed two fingers into Ruby's ribs. The girl let out a wheeze of pain, doubling over and stumbling back into Yang's arms. But then she straightened out, a brightness lightening up her silver eyes as she patted the bruised spot with her palm.

"Cold!" she hissed, squirming and twisting from side to side. She clutched at her head, doing a small dancing shuffle from foot to foot. "Ooh, Yang, that's cold! It's like a brain freeze but— but in my spine—" She shivered, visibly, but she was grinning now. And then she breathed a sigh of relief, eyes closed in bliss. "Wow."

She blinked a few times.

"Wait," Ruby said, "Neo can talk?"

Shrugging again, Neo pressed a finger to her grinning lips and threw Ruby's shirt back at her. Ruby squeezed herself back into it as Neo opened up the side hatch of the amphibian. Holding onto the frame, she hung outside to leap onto the dock and kick down a short ramp. Cinder led them outside; the whole place was empty, concrete and steel.

"We've got 48 hours to set up the reactor here," Cinder said, fixing the straps on her leather gloves. To Yang's extreme displeasure, Neo was walking behind them. Every time her heels struck the concrete Yang felt the urge to flinch, her abdomen still haunted by the ghost of pain. The memory of Neo's blade piercing straight through her body, silver streaked with her own sticky blood, was not easily dispelled. "Ozpin and his pet witch have the one in Beacon tower."

Looking down at her scroll, Ruby's forehead pinched in concern. Yang read over her shoulder; no service. "Blake and Weiss haven't gotten back to us yet."

Neo exhaled sharply. "Ten lien says they're squabbling with Merc and Em."

Twisting around to look at Neo, Ruby nudged Yang in the ribs. "Yang, she's doing it again."

The woman laughed, under her breath, but said nothing else.

A rusted door latch needed to be struck open, but when it was Cinder led them inside the control room. "Ozpin and I built this," Cinder said, opening up consoles and starting up machines with ease. Holographic panels popped up, one by one, running script in a language Yang couldn't hope to decipher. "During one of those rare times we felt like being on the same side. A bunker just in case the humans decided to wage a war big enough to destroy the world, after all."

"And this will help?" Ruby wondered. Her hand slunk lower, to grasp onto Yang's. She returned the grip tightly. "The security systems?"

"Possibly. The world might end tomorrow." Rolling her shoulders, Cinder let loose a long breath. On the inhale, sparks surged up on her pale skin. Marks appeared, burning through her clothing like she had been scorched by invisible brands. The familiar sigil appeared between her shoulderblades, a heart enclosed by thick wedges that almost looked like a pair of high heels. But around her waist, just peeking above her low-slung jeans, more runes appeared that had been hidden from view.

"That's better," Cinder said, stretching again. "If I'm going to die, I want to be comfortable."

Ruby's expression soured. "Quit making jokes like that."

Keeping her back turned to them, Cinder began to type. "I'm not joking."

Pushing past her own discomfort, Yang walked up to the console to stand beside Cinder. "What do you need us to do?"

"Need some extra hands," Cinder answered, not tearing her eyes away from the screen. "Neo will show you how to power up the backup generators. Your job is to make sure they don't go down."

"That's it?" Yang asked incredulously.

A smile flashed. "That's it."

"So you didn't need our help after all," Yang said. "Why are we even here?"

Ruby was the one who answered. "Bargaining chips."

"Oooh." Cinder let the word hum deep in her chest. "Smart girl."

Both sisters stood on either side of Cinder. "Someone had to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't slip away the first chance you get," Ruby said. "And you need one of us here to ensure Ozpin doesn't nuke you in the facility once the bigger threat is eliminated."

"You trust him that much?"

"It's not about trust," Ruby said, "It's just what had to be done."

Cinder stopped typing to turn her gaze to Ruby. Yang couldn't see her expression, but she could see her sister's. Raw shock splashed across it, twisting in confusion before setting into something carefully neutral.

"Perhaps," Cinder said, and her hand reached out to cup her sister's face. "It's about an equal exchange. You'd like it if someone gave you answers for once, wouldn't you?"

Ruby didn't answer; Cinder withdrew and began typing again.

A tug at the back of her shirt made Yang twitch. It was Neo, jerking her chin in the other direction. _C'mere_.

"Go with her, Yang," Ruby said. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"Of course." Cinder's laugh was musical. "You can't let me out of your sight."

It was a short walk to the other side of the facility. Tense silence stretched between Neo and Yang. All she could think about was how the last time they'd met each other, Yang had left the encounter needing twenty stitches. Some of them internal.

The skill gap between them was enormous, and never more evident than right now. Neo moved without hesitation, sliding open thick steel doors and giving Yang minimal instruction with signs and hand gestures. But every time her hand moved too fast Yang twitched; every idle touch meant to get her attention made her feel like was about to shed her skin in fright.

That didn't even take into account that Yang was still battered from their escape from Beacon while Neo had joined them midway through the journey. Scorch marks and unhealed cuts and burns littered Yang's body, her hair sweaty and sticky against the nape of her neck. By comparison, Neo was pristine and frigid as a model home.

"Relax," Neo said at one point, covering Yang's hand with one of her own. Together, they pulled at a lever twice the size of either of them, and were rewarded with a dozing hum of the Dust reactors activating.

"I don't know if you noticed," Yang said, "But the moon might fall down at any second."

"That's not what I meant." Cocking her head to the side, Neo motioned to follow her again. Too weary to argue, Yang did as she was told. "I am loyal to Cinder. Cinder likes the little one. And the little one likes you. So it's in my best interest not to pick a fight with you again."

So Neo was feeling chatty. The older woman refused to talk much around Ruby, but now, the words flowed easily from her mouth. Yang snorted. "Just like that, huh?"

Casting an impish glance behind her, Neo blinked. The accompanying flip of her eye colors did not cease to be disarming. "Just like that."

They worked together to set up another backup generator, and then Neo clapped her hands with a sense of finality. She beckoned to Yang. "Now you rest. I'll take you someplace safe to sleep."

"Right." Yang planted herself firmly in place. "Instead of that, I'd like to go back to Ruby."

Neo shook her head. "They're talking. Even someone like you can recognize that they wanted to be alone for a bit."

She thought about Ruby's eyes widening in shock, the hungry edge of her expression. "What could those two possibly have to talk about?" Yang nearly snarled, red creeping into the edge of her vision again.

Staring directly through her, Neo blinked, twice. The colors shuffled each time, russet and pink and then both twin silver.

Not silver. Grey. No need to call them silver—they weren't bright enough.

"You really don't know, do you?" Neo said, a slow smile dawning on her face. "Not about Summer, or Ozpin, or Ruby or Cinder, or any of the others. They're not people, you know. Not like you and I." She took Yang's hand and tugged; this time Yang went with her, afraid of what might happen if she tried to resist.

"Just because Ruby has weird eyes—" Yang started, before she realized she didn't have a point to make. "I mean, what? Listen, I appreciate the whole 'not-killing me' thing, but…"

They rounded a corner and Neo gestured to a closed door, letting go of Yang's hand.

"There's a shower in there," Neo said. "I'll be waiting out here. The water might be cold," she warned as an afterthought.

"..."

Yang looked from the door to Neo. "I can still kick your ass if I'm naked," she warned, gesturing a threatening signal with two fingers at Neo before going into the bathroom.

The water was frigid as promised, but there was a dry stick of soap and some toiletries that were a few months shy of their expiration date. The cold shuffled through her, rooting out every sore point and digging in deep. Exhaling sharply, Yang pressed a palm against the stall wall, leaning her forehead against the tiles. She stayed under the water long enough to become its friend, chilled to her core and accepting it.

Her eyes shot open when she heard the door hinges squeak. Not turning off the shower head, she slid out of the protective walls, reaching for Ember Celica a little too late to grab them in time before Neo set down a stack of dry clothes on top of them.

Mismatched eyes cast down her dripping form with all the impassive care of a physician. "Yeah, you're about Cinder's size," Neo said, nodding her head as though to agree with herself. Then she left, the door shutting behind her and Yang still frozen mid-lunge.

She left the shower freshly scrubbed and red to the roots of her hair, uncomfortably shifting in the borrowed clothes. At least Celica's heavy weight on her wrists remained the same, and sports bras didn't really care too much about your exact cup size, anyway.

She spoke to Neo in a clipped tone. "Thank you."

The woman had been resting with her eyes closed in the hallway, looking like she had in the amphibian; maybe that was what she did instead of sleeping. "Food?" she asked. "Or bed? I'd offer to heal you but I can't promise I'll be as gentle with you as I was for the little one."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Yang responded.

"I'm not," Neo said. "Unless you think meeting the basic standards of human dignity counts as a kindness." Humor slashed through her open eyes, ghostly pale and pink. "Are you that desperate? Yang?" Her tongue caught in the last syllable; for someone who had exchanged perhaps two words with her in as many years, Neo was surprisingly good about pronouncing Yang's name correctly.

Yang unconsciously pressed a hand against her side, feeling the old wound burn under the touch. "Don't play dumb."

The other woman's eyes had followed the movement, lighting up in sadistic pleasure. Maybe she was remembering that day too, how it felt from her perspective. "That was just business," she said, tearing her eyes away to cast her gaze aside, looking bored now. "My business at the moment is to keep you from breaking anything, or dying. Or going back to Cinder before she's had time to talk to the little one." Her eyes flipped again, both of them cold with steel, and heavily sardonic. "So we can stand here talking… or we could have a staring contest… Or we could go fuck in one of the back rooms..."

Taken aback, Yang retreated just a bit so that her spine was pressed to the opposite wall. She regarded Neo warily, her hackles raised and her teeth grit.

"Don't worry, that offer's only if you want to." Neo kept to her side of the hallway. "Cinder just said keep you distracted. The how is up to us."

"When did she say that?"

"You're in tune with Ruby's needs; you should know it doesn't always take words." She lifted her eyebrows in a teasing question. "Well?"

Bundling up her dirty clothes into a small ball, Yang threw it at Neo. It smacked her in the face, only for her image to crumble and shatter into a million pieces. Making the connection too late, the next thing Yang knew she was buffeted to the ground, her cheek pressed against cold concrete.

Neo digged both knees into Yang's shoulders, one palm cushioning the back of her skull from striking the concrete and the other pressing a thin blade up to Yang's neck.

"Oh yes," Neo said, "Now I remember why you're fun to tease. That look in your eyes drives me crazy."

She froze in place, her semblance soaking up the pain as the blade tip pierced through her skin. Blood dripped down, sluggish and steaming hot against the cold night air. "You remind me of a girl I used to like," Neo said, the grip on Yang's head relaxing and tensing in turns like a kneading cat. "She had warm hands like you. If you're not as much of a firecracker in bed as I hoped, I can just close my eyes and pretend you're her."

Knife be damned. "You're sick." Yang spat.

"Lots of people pretend to be with someone they're not."

She knew before she moved that Neo wouldn't hesitate to shove the knife in. But it would take at least thirty seconds for something like that to kill her, assuming Neo broke through her aura. Tensing up, Yang prepared herself to move.

Whipping a hand up, she grabbed Neo and flipped her over. In these close quarters there had to be some kind of advantage, no room for Neo to flip and dodge and shiver from between her fingertips like pluming smoke. Shockingly, it worked; a strike to Neo's wrist disarmed her and Yang had their positions reversed, locking her fiercely.

Yang grabbed her by the throat, intending to throttle her until a sharp, sobbing cry of pain made her stop.

" _Yang, no! Please don't hurt me_!"

She had opened her mouth, Yang had seen her lips move, but the voice that came from Neo's throat was a perfect replica of Ruby's.

And then Neo laughed, the illusion of her semblance breaking in half.

Seething with fury, Yang grabbed the front of Neo's jacket, lifting her up and slamming her down against the floor again. The other woman was limp and compliant in her hands, still grinning hugely, not even a whimper or a hint of pain entering her expression. Letting her go, Yang got up to her feet and left.

Neo let her leave; they must have been distracted long enough that Cinder would be satisfied.

Rage made her skin hot. By the time she made her way back to the control room her hair had dried itself, and steam no longer billowed from every inch of her. She arrived with a hiss of hydraulics, the door opening to see Cinder and Ruby sitting crossed legged on the floor, facing each other.

Ruby was in the middle of an anecdote, animated as she shared the story. Cinder's face was open and unguarded, her smile artlessly wide with genuine amusement.

"So that's when Weiss took the vial of Dust and—" she mimed throwing it, putting her whole body into the movement. "BAM!"

They looked up when Yang cleared her throat. "Having fun?"

"There's not much left to do now except wait," Cinder explained. She leaned back, bracing one palm behind her on the floor. "Might as well spend it in friendly company."

Yang glanced from Ruby to Cinder. "Right."

"Nice clothes," Cinder added, and Yang felt herself getting red again. "Ruby, would you like to take a shower and change as well?"

"I think so, yeah." She stood up. "I'll be right back. They're next door, right?"

"Right." Cinder nodded.

So Neo had taken her to the furthest part of the complex for nothing. When Ruby passed Yang, she gave her forearm a casual stroke, a small touch to reaffirm and reassure her. Yang responded by gripping her shoulder once before she left.

Yang waited to hear the sound of water gushing through pipes before she spoke to Cinder. "I hope you enjoyed that little bit of alone time with her, because you're not getting any more."

"She's a good girl." Cinder said in response. "Is she truly your sister?"

There was not a single question Yang hated more than that. She refused to answer it under most circumstances; if people couldn't take their word for it, they didn't have the right to start prying into their life. "Same father."

"Ah." Cinder pulled her knees up to her chest. "That's unfortunate."

"So what's the point of this?" Yang asked. "You want to become friends with us so we'll let you go when this is done?"

"If this is done," Cinder corrected her. "And I have no inclination either way. I don't want to die tomorrow. But at the same time…" Behind her, the holographic screen was still running script. Cinder looked to it, one hand tensing on her knee. "Well, I've done all I can. But I'm tired of living, you know, I've lived long enough. I'm sure Ozpin is too. Let's just hope he stays strong tonight."

There it goes again. "What are you?" Yang asked. "Neo kept saying stuff that didn't make sense about you and Ruby."

Cinder sat back again, smiling coyly at the girl. "I'm a person, of course. Just like a faunus is a person and a human is a person. When you see Dust in powder form or crystal form, you still know it as Dust. Why ask the same of me? But I want you to know… It's understandable if you get confused sometimes, Yang."

Yang's gaze hardened. "Confused about what?"

"About how it should be." She gestured, widely, between herself and Yang. "Normally... this isn't a problem. Normally there's no siblings to worry about. We can only ever have one child. And I don't think we've ever stopped to wonder what might happen if one half of the pair mates with another."

"I think you're the one who's confused."

"Possibly." She didn't take offense to it. "But if you do need help understanding a human's role in relation to their master, talk to Neo… or if you ever see them again, Glynda, or James." Gold, flat eyes met hers. "Or Taiyang… or your mother." A brilliant smile. "Your birth mother, that is."

Yang didn't want to be alone with her anymore.

She hung around outside the bathroom doors, pacing back and forth. When Ruby finally emerged, she was wearing someone else's clothes, too. A big white shirt, billowing linen, crisp and clean. And pants held up by a drawstring. "What now?" Yang asked her, throat bobbing with fear. "If we take the amphibian and leave—"

Ruby shook her head. "We have to stay."

Something sharp snapped, deep inside her. "You didn't ask me if I wanted to be a… a bargaining chip, Ruby! You just moved me around like a pawn because you knew I'd come with you, no questions asked! Because of this _thing_ that's happening to everyone who loves you!"

Subdued, Ruby's jaw clicked shut.

Yang immediately regretted speaking.

"I'd like to talk to Cinder some more," Ruby finally said. "Is that alright?"

Holding onto her arm, Yang wanted to touch her more, so she does. "About this?"

Ruby looked pained, but she returned the gesture, pulling Yang close. It made the urge stronger, sharper. So she bent down, kissed Ruby's cheek, to try and alleviate it, but it just made things worse. So she put her arms around her, curled up tight around Ruby, and usually that was enough but right then it was not. She burned, and Ruby's pulse was even and steady.

Summer Rose only ever had one daughter.

She was tired, so tired.

"I'll be right back."

"Ruby…"

Ruby stroked her cheek, and she leaned into the touch, starving for it and hating herself for being starved. Once Ruby had returned to Cinder, Yang covered her face in her hands, trying to sort out everything that had just happened. She'd known for a while that Ruby wasn't normal, that there was something in her blood that Yang did not share.

And now that everything was crumbling, it had unlocked in the worst possible way.

A dull prod at her side made Yang open her eyes to see Neo there again, nudging her with the umbrella tip.

"Told you to give them some space," the woman said. "It's not for humans to interfere with a lesson."

She struggled with herself, not wanting to engage with her, but not having any other choice. "So you think Cinder will… Help… with this?"

Neo nodded. "Until then…"

The end of her umbrella hooked around Yang's neck, yanking her down.

"I offered to fuck you so you'd think about someone other than your sister, Yang. Are you sure you won't allow yourself some respite?"

Her cool, gloved hand provided welcome contrast to the lingering warmth left by Ruby's skin.

Yang's breath caught in her throat. She thought she'd been hiding it, thought no one would suspect. And why would they?

Unless they knew.

"What are they?"

Neo shrugged. "The Guardians. They've been playing games with each other for years. Ozpin and his followers build something, and Cinder and hers try to knock it down... I don't think he'd know what to do with himself if he didn't have us to worry about, to be honest."

"And Ruby?"

"Still learning the ropes. It's very rare for any of them to have a child." She covered her smile with a hand. "She doesn't even know what she's doing to _you_ , does she? Or do you think this is normal?"

They found an old, dusty bedroom. In a few casual movements, Neo stripped down, unbuckling her belt and letting it drop to the floor. She pulled her hair free of her necklaces, discarding those too and turning to face Yang with a smile in her eyes and none on her lips.

Yang did not move from the doorway, still hesitating.

"We can still just talk, you know," Neo teased. "I'll tell you more about what it means when a Guardian has chosen you."

"Whatever," Yang said under her breath, turning off the light and pulling her shirt over her head. Her body tensed at the feeling of another person's hand on her, soft and cool over her stomach. She sucked in a gasp, twitching when Neo's hand went lower, cupping over her sex through the thin fabric of her pants. Her hand rested on Neo's shoulder for support, feeling awkward, hating this, but needing it. "I d-don't really know how to do this."

Neo paused. "Oh, great. Virgin?"

"Kinda."

"Now you expect me to take up the mantle of teacher, I suppose?"

"Not really. Just warning you, I guess." She reached down, pushed her Neo backwards onto the bed. "Can't be that hard."

She laughed, low, from her chest. "It's not. But perhaps this is best. You need an older lover," Neo said. "Someone who will take care of you."

Placing one knee on the edge of the bed, Yang hooked her thumb around the waistband of her pants, tugging them down. "That your expert opinion?"

A cool press of lips against hers answered the question. Neo took her hand, guiding it down between her legs as Yang stroked a hand through her parted hair, the colors shifting even now. About to boil over, Yang vented that burning under her skin on the other woman, feeling like someone had cut her open for all the built-up steam to escape in a rush. Neo accepted it all, patient and understanding and kind, unusually kind. That was the hardest part to understand, that despite her objections, Neo was being nice to her and Yang still didn't know why.

She'd thought about doing something like this many times, finding some anonymous stranger to vent her feelings on, but it always seemed like too much work. People inevitably opened their mouth and something terrible spilled out, and even a beautiful pair of eyes couldn't get her aroused after that.

It was easier to flirt and cajole. Nothing serious ever came out of it, and it relieved stress in its own way, while Yang took care of herself whenever her skin felt like it was about to ignite from need.

Touching Neo felt nice. Her skin was cool and dry, soft and giving under every curious touch. Breasts that weren't her own, that filled her mouth, the peak hardening between her lips. Full hips, fuller than hers, gave way and caved under the pressure of fingers digging in.

She liked girls. Especially smaller girls. Women who looked like they'd fit tucked into her palm— or into her mouth. She kissed Neo, not feeling a spark of fondness but a low-simmering hunger. She bit, sucking on the skin of her collarbone, the hollow of Neo's bobbing throat. Her pulse jumped under Yang's tongue, breath hitching in a satisfied sigh every time she did something right, that Neo enjoyed.

As for doing it wrong—

Neo made her displeasure clear whenever Yang strayed from what felt good, teeth digging into her shoulder or a reprimanding pinch on her ribs.

Easier to be told what to do than to think about it.

Neo was desperately wet against her fingers, nearly smearing her from fingertip to palm, and Yang found herself invested in the idea of making her come. She pulsed, almost like a heart beat, not too terribly dissimilar from her own sex when she was masturbating.

Even in the dark, she could sense when Neo shifted. Against her naked skin she could feel it, like a ripple over her fingers. Neo was constantly changing, shifting with the power of her semblance. Was she always making herself different?

Or was she always working to make sure she looked the same?

Her back arched off the bed, shell pink eyes shining brightly as she laughed. "You're so gentle," she said. "Don't you know you could kill me right now if you wanted?"

Unsettled, Yang braced herself above her, staring down at her, unsure what to say. Neo placed both hands on Yang's chest, fingers spreading out to touch her, stroking over her broad shoulders, down the length of her back. "Come on. Put a little muscle into it, Firecracker."

"I-I don't know what that means," Yang admitted, feeling Neo's legs tighten around her waist.

Those two silver eyes met hers in the darkness.

" _...Don't you want me to feel good, Yang_?" Ruby said.

She inhaled sharply through her nose, unable to help the small groan that escaped her, or the way her own need echoed between her legs. "Oh, fuck you," she hissed, fist gripping tighter onto Neo's hair.

Neo's grin cut into her mouth when she kissed her, lopsided and sinful.

" _It's okay because I'm not really her, right_?"

The next time Neo bit her, Yang could feel the teeth break skin. It trembled through her by virtue of her semblance, the power feeding her even as she tried to keep it under control, stamp down on the embers before she did something terrible. Neo did it again, nails scoring down Yang's back to goad her on. It hurt only for a flash, the pain swallowed up by the adrenaline rush she'd always associated with a fight, groaning as Neo's small hands touched her, Ruby's voice whispering orders to her in the shell of her ear.

She wasn't sure which voice cried out when Neo orgasmed, just that it was sweet and high, and the gush of come around her fingers filled her with a dark pride. Some of the taut energy strung out between them mellowed out afterwards, Neo seeming to sink into the cushions like a purring cat.

"Mmm. Come here, Firecracker." The voice wasn't Ruby's any longer, but for the first time it occurred to Yang that this didn't necessarily mean it was Neo's, either. The first time she'd spoken in the amphibian, it had sounded suspiciously like Cinder's voice. And now it was lighter, more natural, the husk of an older woman.

She wondered how many voices Neo had hoarded over the years, whether she'd plucked Yang's like low-hanging fruit, another throat to add to the collection.

All thoughts were wiped away when Neo shuffled down lower, her hands stroking along Yang's thigh and a dangerous glint in her eye. With questing tongue and fingers, she worked her way up every inch of skin she could reach until Yang was trembling again. When Neo's hands pulled her down by the hips she went with it, bracing herself on the bed and carefully rolling her hips forward to meet Neo's firm tongue.

She moaned, low and almost pained. Stuttered gasping accompanied every word, her mind going blank with pleasure when Neo painted long strokes over her, lips popping free of heated flesh with obscene, wet noises. Neo could have made her come from that alone, but the scrape of her nails along Yang's thighs was what did it.

Her hips jerked forward, one hand clutching onto Neo's and the other in her hair, knuckles going sallow from the tension. " _God_!"

She was sure she'd never forget how it felt when Neo laughed then, a careless chuckle as she drew lazy circles around Yang's clit, savoring the taste and drawing out every last aftershock. Rolling off of her, Yang splayed out on the bed, breathing heavily. In a cloudy haze, she was drawn back to reality by Neo climbing on top of her, settling to sit between her knees as she spread Yang open with her thumbs.

What, more? Right now? Twitching her hips aside, Yang muttered, "I don't know if… I don't think I can come again so soon."

A callous swipe of her thumb across Yang's clit argued otherwise. "Silly girl." Gently now, Neo teased her opening, soft strokes before a comforting, spine-melting stretch as she pushed two fingers in and fucked her. "You're going to come for me as many times as I ask."

Her tongue left a hot, wet trail along the ridge of Yang's abs. Still worked up, Yang's pulse jumped again to see the familiar steel glint staring her down. Desire surged in her at the sight, and she clenched reflexively around the fingers working deep inside her. "Until I s...sweat the fever out?" she agreed haltingly.

" _Until the sound of this voice stops making you wet._ "

Her low groan of dismay rose in intensity when Neo's mouth latched onto her, nipping at her thighs and leaving a host of red marks. Her tongue worked her without mercy, torturing her to the brink and keeping her there. Ruby's voice told her to come, and she did, following that order like it was second nature.

" _On your stomach_."

The idea of more made her whimper, feebly trying to press her sticky thighs together even as Neo pushed them apart, hungrily cleaning her in between the occasional bite. And the fact that her back would be turned to Neo…

She sensed her hesitation. Or maybe Yang had said it, too exhausted to realize she was thinking out loud. "I could have killed you any number of times. Bitten through your femoral artery…" Not hard enough to leave an indent this time, Neo pressed her teeth to Yang's thigh to demonstrate. "Or snapped your neck." Crawling up her body, she held Yang's head, running fingers through her hair. "Every time I did this."

Her mouth flooded with the taste of her own come, Neo's lips making her feel tender and bruised after every kiss. She took it, cleaning the woman's slick chin with a few careless laps of her tongue. "Shouldn't I make you come again, though?"

Neo's tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth, a crooning, endeared noise. "That's adorable, Yang, but no. This is way more fun."

She felt heat on the tips of her ears, the pressure of embarrassment. "It's a reasonable question!"

"Do you want more?" Neo asked. "Or are you going to leave now, and go back to her while your cunt's still wet from me?"

She wanted to slap her. In fact, she was fairly certain that's what Neo wanted, too. But the hand on the back of her neck was vise-like, and she was pressed face down onto the sheets. Her fingers bunched up into the fabric, every gasping breath accompanied by a shout. The nails digging down her back fed that spark inside her, the one that reminded her how easy it was to take, and take, and take. Like a fire, consuming everything and needing more.

Neo's chest pressed against her back. "It's easier to maintain the illusion if you close your eyes," she said, and though her mouth was at Yang's ear she could feel the hollow, ghostly presence of her tongue between Yang's thighs again. She mumbled in confusion, bucking her hips forward only to meet empty air even as she felt that wicked mouth spreading her open again.

It felt like three sets of hands were on her at once, faint but real. Soothingly working out the kinks in her back, and another grasping her by the hips, and two more stroking up her thighs as she trembled in place, trying to keep still.

The mouth on her cunt was cold as ice, the echo of Neo's fingers inside her sharp contrast to what must be her real hands rolling down the muscles of her back.

"What a shame we're not at home," Neo said, in a wholly unfamiliar voice. "I have so many other ways to break in a new playmate."

Yang couldn't talk, lips moving to form words but only ragged breaths coming from her lips. But it was only when she broke down and begged for it that Neo's hands stroked lower, the firm reassurance of her actual hands driving away the wisps of pleasure that had been fucking her before.

Warmth coated her like a drizzle of honey, chased by cold tremors up her spine.

"More?"

Keeping her eyes shut, Yang lay on her side and slowly shook her head.

"All right then, sweet girl."

Neo pressed another fond kiss to Yang's lips before slipping from the bed. She got dressed as quickly as she had disrobed, her heterochromia flickering with every other blink. "Rest. You've been put through the ringer and we need you in top form tomorrow."

She mumbled into the sheets, a protest, though she wasn't sure what to. To being left alone? To needing any sleep?

Either way, Neo disagreed. "I need to get back to work for a bit. But rest assured, call my name and I'll hear you."

"Wait."

The first clear words out of her lips. By a miracle, Neo paused long enough to acknowledge it.

"Are you like them, too?"

Neo swung around, clutching her parasol in two hands and a sweet chime to her new voice. "No, Yang. I'm more like you."

The door hissed shut.

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x -Fin

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